1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to portals and grooming devices for pets, and more particularly to combined grooming devices and portals for pets. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a pet portal located in an interior door having mounted with respect thereto a removable pet grooming brush.
2. Description of the Prior Art
One chore that pet owners must contend with on a regular basis is serving as an obedient "door-man" for their pet whenever the pet wishes to go out or come in. To solve this problem, pet portals have been developed which allow the pet on its own initiative to ingress and egress the home. In this regard, portals for pets, such as dogs and cats, have been devised in the form of small doors mounted in an exterior door of a home, wherein the pet is able to gain ingress and egress by pushing against a pivotable flap or flaps. The flap or flaps are necessary in order to keep adverse weather from entering into the dwelling. Examples of such portals are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,758,646, 2,832,406, 4,022,263, and 4,350,198, as well as in French Patent 1,453,979.
Another chore that pet owners must endure is the endless need to groom their pet to ensure that its coat is soft and free of burrs and mats. Ordinarily this is accomplished by brushing the hair of the pet by hand. However, many pets, especially cats, are well known for their innate grooming habits. Accordingly, various stand alone grooming devices have been devised having one or more brushes against which a cat may rub to thereby groom itself. Some of these devices include arch shapes through which the pet walks, and in so doing accomplishes self-grooming. Examples of such devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,568,226, 1,582,144, 1,627,516, 2,865,329, and 2,976,841.
Hybrids of the above are also known, such as pet portals into dog houses or boxes, wherein the portal is equipped with a pet grooming brush. Examples of such structures are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,301,766, U.K. Patent Application 2,177,282A, and German Patent 461,582. Also in this regard, U.S. Pat. No. 4,938,169 discloses a pet portal formed in a wall or door, wherein triangularly shaped flexible flaps mounted to a frame connected with the wall or door are equipped with a plurality of bristles which rub against the body of a pet as the pet passes therethrough.
Another problem that is experienced by cat owners is that after their cat has completed using its litter box, the cat tends to track the granular litter material all through the home. Also, the litter box tends to become odoriferous in relatively a short time of use, and it would be nice to be able to place the litter box in an out of the way room, such as a basement laundry room. Problematically, though, the cat would be unable to pass through the closed door. So, cat owners must leave the litter box out in the open for ready access by their cat, with consequential odor and granular litter material tracking being also unrestricted.
Thus, what remains needed is a pet portal having a decorative frame mounted to an interior door, wherein a pet grooming brush is removably mounted with respect to the frame.